This was a very sad disturbing read. It was well written and really enraging at time due to the treatment of various law enforcement. Definitely a good read but not for the faint of heart.

Disturbing and enlightening read, highlighting the rape culture in law enforcement that still exists today. John Allore's recount of the disappearance of his sister and the later search for justice is poignant and heartbreaking, as his investigation reveals the school's and law enforcement's failure of not just Theresa Allore, but many other women and girls in Quebec and beyond.

In 1978, Theresa Allore went missing near Sherbrooke, Quebec. Her body was found months later and was dismissed as a drug-related incident by the police. Her brother, John, and the rest of their family never accepted the that explanation, and John would dedicate much of his life to finding out the truth. Alongside co-author and crime journalist, Patricia Pearson, John uncovered a history of police negligence and signs of a serial killer who was active in Quebec and Alberta between the 1970s and 1990s.

My rating is not a reflection on the case itself or the incredible work that John and Patricia have done, but rather a reflection of the way the book was presented. I listened to the audiobook, which might be the issue, but I found Wish You Were Here difficult to follow at times with a lot of information that didn’t really seem relevant to Theresa’s case. I also wasn’t a fan of the narrator, which impacted my enjoyment. I will, however, continue to follow this case via the website that John has created.

Theresa’s case remains unsolved, as do many of the other cases mentioned in this book. My condolences to all the families. I sincerely hope that they receive closure in the future.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this. Thank you to John and Patricia for this awesome story !

Personally I found this book very slow moving at first with lots of information and lots of people involved. There was a lot of information that was repeated and information that had nothing to do with the death of Theresa .

After a few chapters the book was very interesting. This book is very sad it wasn’t just about finding the killer but it also put light on other murders and missing people around the same time. Plus how the police just didn’t care, how the didn’t help and how lazy they my really were. Maybe if they would have done something sooner... this wouldn’t have happened!

I enjoyed how this book started, the life story of who Theresa was even as a child. To where she ended up. Then it got more in depth with what happened to her.

The research this family did for answers is amazing!

If you can handle a book of a lot of research and investigation this is a great book to read.

There are few things as heart wrenching as true crime written by the family of a victim. John Allore lost his sister Theresa in the 70’s when he was a child and now as an adult investigates her disappearance and mysterious death. Faced with indifference and incompetence from her school and law enforcement he manages to put together a very compelling case for her murder and uncovers a previously unknown serial killer who was likely responsible. In the style of Michelle McNamara he includes a lot of personal elements and completely immerses himself in the research. Thankfully he manages to pull himself back from the edge before the darkness consumes him and his obsession destroys his life. We all know that sadly McNamara wasn’t so fortunate. Finding balance was obviously a huge struggle for Allore and he also had to deal with his own grieving family. I have to say that I truly admire these true crime writers and bloggers who give so much of themselves to these cases. It must be awful to immerse oneself in murder and real life horror all day, every day.

This memoir/investigation uncovered some truly chilling things that absolutely gave me goose bumps, especially when describing the movements of a serial killer through Alberta and Quebec. One of his stops was to visit a small town that just happens to be my hometown and where I was a teen at the time. He would go on to kill repeatedly in a nearby city where I often spent time with friends. It’s the thought of “there by the grace…” This book did make me feel a bit like serial killers were absolutely everywhere. This is of course not really the case although poor Theresa seemed potentially surrounded by more than one.

The plethora of information this book contains is mind boggling. You just have to look through the pages and pages of notes and references at the end to see just how much work went into this. It is a truly astonishing feat of research. The way it is presented isn’t always super cohesive and I felt like it jumped around a lot, throwing in little asides that didn’t necessarily feel directly connected to the narrative. Despite this minor issue it was a very compelling story and I learned a ton, some things that I would rather not have known. (Serial killer Pickton’s ground meat business for one.) I don’t mind falling down the dark rabbit hole of true crime but there are some things I wish I could wash out of my brain. I think that true crime fans will eat this one up (and that phrase feels entirely inappropriate in the same paragraph as Pickton.) It is truly dark and horrifying but gives true crime information junkies exactly what they are looking for in an accessible and morbidly fascinating manner.

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for providing an Electronic Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley for review.

Wish You Were Here by John Allore and Patricia Pearson was a very interesting and informative read about an unsolved murder that happened in the 1970s in rural Quebec, Canada. This book dives into the facts and events that lead up to and followed the brutal murder of Allore's own sister- Theresa. John Allore dedicated his entire life to investigating the murder and complete the job that was so poorly done by the police. Evidence discarded, interviews not recorded and neglect of service were all issues the Allore family had to endure while the investigation took place. So Allore and Pearson take it into their own hands and dive into the police files and find connections that tie multiple murders in the area together and lead to a likely suspect.

This book was very well researched and easy to read. I felt that Allore and Pearson did a phenomenal job of relaying all the information they have on the case in a way that was easy to understand. I appreciated the map at the front of the book and I frequently went back to it while reading. There was plenty of compelling evidence presented throughout this book and really makes the reader wonder- Who killed Theresa Allore and why was the murder so poorly investigated by the police?

If you are a fan of true crime and unsolved mysteries I recommend this one! It comes out in September 2020.
Thank you to NetGalley, John Allore, Patricia Pearson and Penguin Random House Canada for this advanced copy!